One of the first things I noticed after a week in Malaysia is the way everyone I met treated me like family. I felt comfortable to be shamelessly myself with everyone I talked to.
Another thing I noticed was that food is one of their love languages. Preyma, our host, always fed us very well and loved cooking with us. Every time we went to different peoples’ houses for church, each family would provide us with a bountiful meal.
Malaysia is a place I am very thankful for. The month I spent there was absolutely amazing and the people were some of the kindest i’ve ever met. The fact that I got to share Thanksgiving with them was not a coincidence. There are so many moments, people, places, and stories that I am abundantly thankful for that I was introduced to in Malaysia.
We got to spend the day preparing our American Thanksgiving feast. Our menu consisted of an array of amazing foods. After we ate our meal, we went to the church. I got to preach that night, so I decided that in the spirit of the holiday I would do a message on being thankful. Here is that message:
Tonight I will be giving a message on being thankful in both good times and hard times for all that God gives us.
After God freed the Israelites from Pharaoh, Moses used the time following to celebrate God’s goodness and his fulfilled promises.
•Exodus 13:3
“Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place.”
His focus is on the victory God has given the Israelites, not all the hard trials they had before God set them free.
Soon after the Israelites left Egypt, Pharaoh went after the Israelites with his army. When the Israelites saw his army, they were scared and doubtful of God’s promises, but Moses continued to trust the Lord and thank him in times of trouble.
•Exodus 14:13-14
“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you only have to be silent.”
When we face trials, we should focus on God’s promises just like Moses encouraged the Israelites to do.
God then performed a great miracle and split the red sea open so that the Israelites could escape the Egyptians.
After the Lord saved the Israelites, they sang a song of thanksgiving and worshiped the Lord.
•Exodus 15:1-2;19-21
(1-2) “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, ‘I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.(19-21) For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the water of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
In this story, Moses is a great example of praising and thanking God during both trials and victories.
No matter how good or bad our day is, we should always thank God. We should not spend our time worrying about what we don’t have, but celebrating what we do have.
•Matthew 6:31-33
Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
In hard times, we should remember what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4:8-9…
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not foresaken; struck down, but not destroyed…”
God is on our side. He is always protecting us and watching over us. Even when bad things happen to us, we can hold onto the promises God has given us and have hope. For this, we should be thankful.
God already knows what we need, so we should thank him for what he has already given us and trust that he will provide what we need.
Thanking the Lord is a form of worship. Worship means to place high value and worth onto something or someone. When we worship and thank God, we are telling him that he is worthy. So if we don’t ever thank him, we are implying that he is not worthy of our praise.
We already have the best gift from the Lord.
•Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We should always be living in thanksgiving because of the eternal life we have thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice. We get to be with God forever. That is something to be thankful for.
In order to be thankful, we must also be generous…
•2 Corinthians 9:11-15
(11-15)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”
We should look back at our lives and remember all God has done for us already and thank him for everything. When we do this, we will be reminded of how good he is and how much he cares for us. When we focus on and thank God for what he has already done for us and given to us, it is easier for us to trust him to provide for us today and in the future.
Today is a holiday in America called Thanksgiving. It is a day filled with fellowship and talking about what we’re thankful for. I encourage all of you to use this night to remember what you’re thankful for just like we do on this holiday and to praise God for providing you with all of it.
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The service went beautifully. They didn’t even know I was doing my message on being thankful, but all the songs sang that night went with the theme. They even sang my favorite “Nandri, Nandri,” which means thank you, thank you in Tamil. After church, we all went back to Preyma’s house along with everyone from church. We all pitched in and got food for everyone at the church so they could celebrate Thanksgiving with us. That night takes one of my top spots in my favorite memories on the race. We all got to hang out, laugh, eat, play games, and sing together. I loved spending time with each of those people so much. I can confidently say that I am very thankful for that night and all the wonderful people in Malaysia. While I missed my family immensely, I got to celebrate who and what God has surrounded me with in this season.
